Forest Fire Hazard Climbing Again

With the recent bout of hot weather, the fire hazard is already back to HIGH. With that came a mutual aid call to assist Metchosin with a tree fire at Camp Thunderbird. Might seem like a bit of overkill for a tree fire, but this was no ordinary tree. The cedar was about 6 feet across, hollow in the middle and close to 200 feet tall. The fire had started at the base and was burning well over 100 feet off the ground. A professional faller had to be brought in to bring the tree down at which point crews spent a good couple of hours getting the fire out. To top this off, the morning fire occured at the same time as dozens and dozens of parents arrived in their cars to collect their kids from summer camp. This created a giant traffic jam as the sinle lane road was clogged with cars going up and down the road while negotiating around fire trucks and tanker shuttles.

It has been a rather busy week for calls these past few days. Another MVI occured on Sooke Road at Parklands when a vehilce left the road and into the gulley. The car didn't travel to far as it hit a tree but it was balanced rather precauriously on the crumbling bank. Crews used the winch from Rescue 1 to secure the car to allow the driver to exit safely. He suffered a hand laceration from his hand jamming the steering wheel. Otherwise he seemed OK.

Yesterday Sooke FD attended three calls almost at the same time. Luckily it was a Thursday night practice night so many firefighters were available. The first involved a 16 year old male cyclist hitting a car on Sunriver Way. He suffered a serious head laceration and numerous cuts and scrapes. Full spinal precautions were taken. While this was going on a burning complaint came in soon followed by another first responder call.

It is almost time to take on the new recruit class. Assistant Chief Mcleod was put through the paces last night as he fine tuned the new agility test. Since he came up with the test, it seemed only fair that he try it out. Luckily he survived so it appears the test is ok. Look for some new faces as we have 5 new applicants and 1 returning firefighter this fall. They will be attending for an orientation next Thursday night.

The paperwork has all been signed for the E-One pumper truck that we purchased. We are now working at finding the most reliable and economical way to get the truck shipped to Sooke from Arizona. It should be arriving within the next month.

Don't forget to RSVP Jan at the fire hall if you plan on attending this years Firefighter Appreciation Banquet. (It would be good to call or email if you cannot attend too!)

And finally the new exterior lighting project is finished. These new lights are certainly doing a much better job illuminating the parking lots. This means that the gym has power again too. Along with the lights, the removal of some of the landscaping has improved sight lines and safety concerns around the building. New plants will be installed this fall to fill in the voids.